During my last term in the UBC Dental Hygiene Entry-to-Practice program, my team and I developed a cause advocacy project: dental hygiene care for cannabis consumers. We chose this topic in light of the recent legalization of cannabis in Canada (October 2018).1 The aim of this project is to reduce disparities of reluctance in support and care by dental hygienists, by implementing educational workshops and seminars for dental hygienists to continue providing comprehensive dental hygiene care for cannabis consumers. The goal of our program is to improve implementation of dental hygiene processes of care model for cannabis consumers by increasing dental hygienists’ knowledge and understanding of cannabis.2 On January 2, 2019, the Canadian Dental Hygiene Association (CDHA) released media in regards to the new legalization of cannabis stating the focus to be setting new goals and resolutions for dental hygienists in response to increased oral health risks from cannabis use.3Additionally, the importance of obtaining consent and avoiding impaired practice is a reinforced message by the College of Dental Hygienists of British Columbia (CDHBC).4
My team and I developed two scenario-based videos incorporating dental hygienist and client interaction; a client who is a cannabis consumer. We hope that these videos will aide as educational tools in depicting culturally-safe health care practices and client management, inclusive of motivational interviewing, informed consent, and comprehensive medical history intake.2Additionally, my team and I developed a poster that can be displayed within the clinic and operatories to show clients that our practices are ‘cannabis friendly’, with the intention of creating an open and culturally safe environment, where clients can feel safe to share their experiences with cannabis.2,3
Currently, my team and I are currently in the process of publishing our work to respective stakeholders, and hopefully disseminating our work for the CDHA website, and incorporating our work in educational curriculums.
References:
- Government of Canada. Cannabis market data [Online]. 2018[updated 2018 Dec 4; cited 2019 Jan 28]; Available form:https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugsmedication/cannabis/licensed-producers/market-data.html
- Chang R, Haxhiavdija H, Shen J, Uy M. Dental hygiene care for cannabis consumers – cause advocacy project [unpublished]. 410: Dental Hygiene Theory and Knowledge, University of British Columbia; presented 2019 Mar 21.
- Canadian dental hygienists start the cannabis conversation [Online]. 2019 [cited 2019 Jan 27]. Available from: https://files.cdha.ca/NewsEvents/tag/2019/New_Years_Resolution–cannabis.pdf
- Guyader J. Root of the matter: upcoming regulation changes – legalization of non-medical cannabis [Online]. 2019 [cited 2019 Jan 30]. Available from: http://www.cdhbc.com/Documents/Fed-Gov-legislation-of-non-medical-Cannabis.aspx
Cannabis-friendly poster – developed by Chang R, Haxhiavdija H, Shen J, and Uy M.